Seattle Travel Guide

February 21, 2018

Last week, Ian and I celebrated our anniversary in Seattle and Vancouver! Today, I’ll be sharing all of the awesome things we did and what you can expect if you plan on going to Seattle based on the highlights of our trip covering where to stay, what to do, and what to eat!

WHERE TO STAY

We stayed in the heart of Downtown Seattle at the Kimpton Monaco Seattle. With just a few block walk away from Pike Place Market, amazing restaurants, and shopping – it was the perfect place for us to stay! The rooms are bright, vibrant, and super cozy! We stayed in the Deluxe King Room outfitted with a king size bed (much needed, because I need my space when I sleep), a view of the city, and a beautiful bathroom with a deep soaking bathtub and separate walk-in shower!

Not to mention, for the month of February, it happens to be Seattle Museum Month where local hotels partnered with participating museums offering half-off admission prices while you are staying at the hotel! When we chatted with Catirina, she shared we had to check out Chihuly and MoPop! We added that to our list and enjoyed the rest of the amenities at Monaco! The staff was incredibly helpful, super friendly, and they even offer a wine hour from 5-6pm EVERY DAY!

WHAT TO DO

When you think Seattle, you think of the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and the infamous Gum Wall! So it should go without saying to check those out! It wasn’t our first time in Seattle so we didn’t feel a need to go to these specific places, aside from Pike Place Market.

Go to a Comedy Show at Comedy Underground

On our first night there, we ended our day at Comedy Underground and every Wednesday is the best of show highlighting local comedians who are HILARIOUS! Ian and I love stand up comedy, so it was great getting to see and hear the locals get up on stage and make us laugh until it hurts! And it was only $10 to get in!

Go to the Museums

Like I mentioned earlier, February is Seattle Museum Month, and since we were staying at Monaco, we decided to check out some museums while we were there! We took the monorail to the museums and it was only a few bucks for a straight shot to the Space Needle and the museums, which made it super easy! First up, Chihuly Garden & Glass. You guys, I can’t even begin to explain just how mesmerizing and beautiful this museum was. I’ve seen his work in Tacoma in the past, but it does not compare to the grandeur of what is in this museum. From large hand-blown sculptures to beautiful smaller scale pieces, it was so vibrant, unique, and awe-inspiring!

Secondly, we went to MoPop, the Museum of Pop Culture! This was a fun museum because it was very interactive and offered a lot of pop culture in one space. My favorite part was getting to see the science fiction exhibit – it covered everything from Star Wars, space stuff, and movies I used to watch growing up! They had an exhibit for everyone – for music, Star Trek, scary movies (not a fan), and even fantasy! It was so fun and we could’ve spent the whole day there!

WHAT TO EAT

Outlier at Monaco

One of the things I loved about getting to stay at the Monaco was getting to eat at Outlier. Outlier is the restaurant connected to Monaco and offers a dining experience that focuses on seasonal and global fare. We got to enjoy breakfast one morning there (their waffles and side of bacon – amaaazing)! And we got to enjoy dinner there for our anniversary. The sous chef, Michael, picked out a handful of appetizers for us to munch on and it was SO good!

Pike Place Market

When you check out Pike Place Market, my favorite places are Beecher’s Handmade Cheese for their Mariachi Macaroni and cheese (PRO TIP: if you take it over to La Buona Tavola a few stores down, ask for white truffle oil or calabrian pesto and add to it! Carla from Monaco suggested it, and she has done food tours in the past and it’s now one of my favorite things – we had it THREE times while we were in Seattle)! If you’re looking for delicious Russian baked goods, check out Piroshky Piroshky, they have this smoked salmon pate that is AMAZING and a must-have whenever I go!

A few other notable favorites in that area is Storyville Coffee as it’s tucked away across from the marketplace sign but you get a beautiful view of it! And I love love LOVE Rachel’s Ginger Beer! I’m truly not a huge fan of ginger, but they do ginger beer so well and you can sample all the flavors! This time around I opted for a passionfruit vanilla float and I was not disappointed! For all you cocktail lovers, they also mix their ginger beer to make cocktails that are also really yummy too!

Capitol Hill Favorites

Capitol Hill is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Seattle! There are also some of my food favorites there, including Molly Moon’s Ice Cream (YESSSS!). I’m a sucker for ice cream and I always crave Molly Moon’s for their Earl Grey ice cream! This time around when I went, they asked if I’d like it topped with lemon curd, and it’s a nice addition! On our last night in Seattle, Ian and I went to Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya and had some amazing food! They are known for their Garlic Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen and I looooved it! I added pork to mine and it hit the spot! I highly recommend it!

A new spot we tried was called Fogón Cocina Mexicana, Ian wasn’t feeling too well and was craving chicken tortilla soup, we quickly yelped a place and found this and loved it! We went during happy hour and they started us off with complimentary chips and salsa and a tostada. We each ordered a chicken tortilla soup and sangria and truly enjoyed our meal, and we got it all for a fairly affordable price – win win!

There are obviously SO many other things to do, and places to go, and food to eat in Seattle! If you are visiting, expect lots and lots of coffee, great bars, and delicious food on every corner! I wish I had more time to check out other food spots on my list, but from everything we had, we had an amazing experience!

If you are planning to go, do note the Space Needle restaurant is closed for remodel and at least one-sixth of the saucer until May 2018. But don’t let that deter you! There is still a big chunk of the deck open, and I’m sure you’ll get fantastic views! If you’d like to see more photos of Seattle from my past travels, check out my PNW recap and my love letter to Seattle.

I hope this helps some of you out who are looking to go to Seattle, it’s one of my favorite cities and one of the first cities I’ve traveled to that I truly discovered myself!

*Special thank you to Kimpton Monaco Seattle for sponsoring our stay at the Monaco and experience just how lovely Seattle is and treating us to a great meal from Outlier! We had a blast, and discovered so many great gems thanks to their team!

Seattle Travel Guide was last modified: February 21st, 2018 by alyssamopia